Walkers to receive distinguished alumni award at WBU

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Release Date: February 8, 2008

PLAINVIEW – Donors Sally and Robert Walker of Arlington will be honored with the Distinguished
Benefactor Alumni Award at Wayland Baptist University during homecoming festivities
Feb. 21-24. Specifically, the awards will be presented during the 11 a.m. chapel slated
for Friday, Feb. 22.

The Walkers have a love for young people and have found Wayland Baptist University
a satisfying place to invest their financial resources.

“When I came to Wayland, my dad had just died and I needed emotional and spiritual
renewal. People like Dr. Roy McClung (Wayland’s president), Dr. Carlos McLeod (pastor
of First Baptist Church) and Dr. Dan Kent (religion professor) stepped up and helped
me find my way again,” Mrs. Walker said. “Wayland was an environment that provided
me an opportunity to do that.”

The former Sally Bagwell graduated from Lubbock Monterey High School in 1974 and received
her degree in religion from Wayland in 1981. Robert Walker is a 1966 graduate of Monterey
and received his degree in biology from West Texas State University in 1974. They
married in 1982, and when Robert became a partner in Acme Electric, they opened the
Metroplex branch the same year.

Sally started Blue Star Electric, a distributor of electrical and mechanical equipment,
in 2001. Her firm is a minority participant in the construction of the new Dallas
Cowboys stadium that will seat almost 100,000 and which will open in 2009.

Mrs. Walker, who has served as a Wayland trustee since January 2006, is a member of
the National Association of Women Executives and the National Association of Women
in Construction and is active in several political organizations.

The Walkers are members of First Baptist Church in Arlington and serve on the board
of Mission Arlington, which has mission-benevolence projects throughout the city.
They enjoy golf and travel.

The couple established the W.D. “Dub” Turner Endowed Scholarship in honor of her grandfather,
who also was a Wayland trustee. They have also supported other scholarships, contributed
to special trips by the band and choir, and give support to a special needs fund.

“We believe in helping students with their education and have a special place in our
hearts for students who want to receive their education in a Christian environment,”
said Robert. “We haven’t found another university quite like Wayland that provides
the kind of financial and spiritual support of young people to be ministers in the
world, no matter what their degree.”

One of five awards presented by the Association of Former Students, the Distinguished
Benefactor Alumni Award is presented annually to individuals who have made generous
contributions to the university. The gift of time, energy and personality are considered
as well, and honorees should exhibit personal character and integrity in which the
university can take pride in honoring.